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NASA's X-48 Aircraft Test Flights Promise a 'Green Airliner' For the Future
interestingengineering.com

NASA's X-48 Aircraft Test Flights Promise a 'Green Airliner' For the Future

After X-48's promising final test flight, a NASA official said "We have accomplished our goal," in 2013.

Science & Tech

After almost six years of flights, NASA announced in 2013 that its remotely-piloted blended wing body X-48 flight test project had come to a close, a statement from the organization explained at the time.

The test flights stand as an indicator of NASA's commitment to designing and developing new aircraft that reduce noise pollution and carbon emissions.

An aircraft designed to meet NASA's environmental goals

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The X-48 was a manta-shaped demonstrator aircraft with two model variations that carried out 122 flights. The aircraft's last flight occurred on April 9, 2013, while the first took place in 2007.

The X-48 was designed by The Boeing Co. and was built by UK-based Cranfield Aerospace Limited, while NASA carried out the flight tests. It was built as a demonstrator for a future Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) aircraft design derived from concept studies carried out at NASA's Environmentally Responsible Aviation project, which aims to develop aircraft designs for 20 years from now.